Retiring Arizona Prison Watch...

This site was originally started in July 2009 as an independent endeavor to monitor conditions in Arizona's criminal justice system, as well as offer some critical analysis of the prison industrial complex from a prison abolitionist/anarchist's perspective. It was begun in the aftermath of the death of Marcia Powell, a 48 year old AZ state prisoner who was left in an outdoor cage in the desert sun for over four hours while on a 10-minute suicide watch. That was at ASPC-Perryville, in Goodyear, AZ, in May 2009.

Marcia, a seriously mentally ill woman with a meth habit sentenced to the minimum mandatory 27 months in prison for prostitution was already deemed by society as disposable. She was therefore easily ignored by numerous prison officers as she pleaded for water and relief from the sun for four hours. She was ultimately found collapsed in her own feces, with second degree burns on her body, her organs failing, and her body exceeding the 108 degrees the thermometer would record. 16 officers and staff were disciplined for her death, but no one was ever prosecuted for her homicide. Her story is here.

Marcia's death and this blog compelled me to work for the next 5 1/2 years to document and challenge the prison industrial complex in AZ, most specifically as manifested in the Arizona Department of Corrections. I corresponded with over 1,000 prisoners in that time, as well as many of their loved ones, offering all what resources I could find for fighting the AZ DOC themselves - most regarding their health or matters of personal safety.

I also began to work with the survivors of prison violence, as I often heard from the loved ones of the dead, and learned their stories. During that time I memorialized the Ghosts of Jan Brewer - state prisoners under her regime who were lost to neglect, suicide or violence - across the city's sidewalks in large chalk murals. Some of that art is here.

In November 2014 I left Phoenix abruptly to care for my family. By early 2015 I was no longer keeping up this blog site, save occasional posts about a young prisoner in solitary confinement in Arpaio's jail, Jessie B.

I'm deeply grateful to the prisoners who educated, confided in, and encouraged me throughout the years I did this work. My life has been made all the more rich and meaningful by their engagement.

I've linked to some posts about advocating for state prisoner health and safety to the right, as well as other resources for families and friends. If you are in need of additional assistance fighting the prison industrial complex in Arizona - or if you care to offer some aid to the cause - please contact the Phoenix Anarchist Black Cross at PO Box 7241 / Tempe, AZ 85281. collective@phoenixabc.org

This media release comes to us this afternoon from Wendy Halloran at KPNX Channel 12 News. They will be covering the story tonight at 5pm and 6pm. Wendy was recently nominated for an Emmy for her investigation of the highly preventable suicide of Tony Lester.

Hep C is already a leading killer in our state prisons. Nearly 6,000 prisoners are already diagnosed with it, and another 20-30% of the prison population likely have it but don't know it yet...

On August 27, 2012, a potential exposure event occurred at the Arizona
State Prison Complex – Lewis while administering medication. A vial of
medication, which may have been compromised with a previously used
syringe, was subsequently used to treat additional inmates.

Review of this event determined the potential exposure to Hepatitis C
and involved up to 105 inmates. As a result, these inmates were notified
and are currently being screened for infectious diseases as per
protocol in such an exposure event. An independent laboratory, under
contract with Wexford, will provide continued medical monitoring and
testing of these potentially exposed inmates over the next several
months. All patients will be informed of the results of the testing.

The medical protocols related to this potential exposure have been
reviewed to ensure that subsequent events do not occur. The initial
event remains under review by Wexford Health, the contracted provider
responsible for inmate health care.

The nurse who violated the basic infection control protocols is an
employee of a staffing agency under contract with Wexford Health.
Wexford has banned the nurse from working under any of its contracts and
has also requested that the individual be referred to the State Board
of Nursing for investigation.

A nurse for the new medical provider for Arizona prisons may have
exposed 103 inmates at the Buckeye state prison to hepatitis C by
contaminating the prison's insulin supply, and state and local health
officials were not alerted for more than a week.

Officials with the state and Maricopa County health departments, who confirmed to The Arizona Republic
on Tuesday that they had not been informed by Wexford Health Sources
Inc. of the problem, said they will launch investigations into the
incident.

Official notification of the Aug. 27 error only came late Tuesday
afternoon, hours after an inmate's family member had told 12 News of the
potential health risk.

State rules require health-care providers and correctional facilities
to notify health departments within five business days of a hepatitis C
diagnosis, treatment or detection.

Wexford said it suspended the nurse on Aug. 27, immediately after
learning the person "had violated basic infection-control protocols
while administering medication that day."

"In talking with the Department of Health Services, they believe it
should have been reported first to the county," Corrections Director
Charles Ryan said late Tuesday. "That is a question we will have of
Wexford -- as to the lack of notification or an explanation as to why
that did not occur.

"The department has concerns about this issue, and we will be having
further discussions with Wexford in terms of this requirement and some
other issues as well."

Ryan said the incident occurred when a diabetic inmate who also has
hepatitis C was administered a routine dose of insulin by the nurse on
Aug. 27. The needle used on that inmate was inserted into another vial
to draw more insulin for the same inmate.

Ryan said the contaminated needle was inserted into a vial which was
then put back among other vials in the prison's medication refrigerator.
It got mixed up with other vials used throughout that day to administer
insulin injections to more than 100 other diabetic inmates. Later that
day, Ryan said, officials realized that the vial that potentially had
been tainted with hepatitis C may have been used to dose other inmates.

At that point, the nurse in question was suspended and prison
officials sought to determine how many inmates may have been exposed.

All the vials of medicine were destroyed after the discovery.

Wexford spokesman Larry Pike on Tuesday minimized the potential
exposure of other inmates. He said that the company acted
"expeditiously" to identify those who were potentially affected and that
the company believes the potential for their exposure was small.

Though corrections officials and Wexford declined to name the nurse,
the Arizona State Board of Nursing identified her as Nwadiuto Jane
Nwaohia. She has been under state investigation since June 2012 for
unsafe practice or substandard care, but the board would not provide
additional information on the nature of the previous problem.

Corrections officials first acknowledged the matter Tuesday morning
after 12 News asked about the incident at the Arizona State Prison
Complex-Lewis, which houses 5,382 inmates in minimum- to
maximum-security facilities.

Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplants and causes
liver cancer. Seventy-five to 85 percent of people with hepatitis C
develop a chronic infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.

Shoana Anderson, head of the state Office of Infectious Disease
Services, said one of the biggest dangers for those infected with
hepatitis C is "it sits in the liver quietly, and 20 years later, a
person can develop severe liver disease."

Anderson and Jeanene Fowler, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County
Department of Public Health, said Wexford should have notified them of
the issue.

"It's extremely disturbing that something like this could happen. It
calls for a thorough investigation to determine all of the surrounding
causes of the mistake or the negligence," said Don Specter of the Prison
Law Office, a prison watchdog group based in Berkeley, Calif.

Ken Kopczynski, executive director of the Private Corrections Working
Group in Tallahassee, Fla., called the incident "scary" and said it
shows a lack of oversight by corrections officials.

"This is a problem with privatization," Kopczynski said. "They are just accepting who Wexford will hire."

Wexford, which has previously lost contracts for poor service in
other jurisdictions, this spring won a $349 million, three-year contract
to provide health care for Arizona inmates. The company began providing
services for nearly 40,000 Arizona inmates on July 1.

In a written statement, the Pittsburgh-based company said it
suspended the nurse immediately upon learning she "may have compromised a
vial of medication by placing it in contact with a previously used
syringe."

Wexford, in its statement, said a local staffingagency
assigned the nurse to the prison complex. The company said that at no
time was the same syringe and needle used on more than one patient and
that no staff members were exposed.

Wexford said it reported the nurse to the state nursing board for
investigation, but that did not occur until late Tuesday afternoon,
after the news had been reported. The company also banned the nurse from
working under any of its contracts in the future. Wexford provides
health-care services nationwide to roughly 124,000 inmates and other
residents at more than 100 institutions.

The state said inmates exposed were notified and are being screened
for infectious diseases. An independent laboratory under contract with
Wexford will provide continuing medical monitoring and testing of the
potentially exposed inmates over the next several months, the state
said. All patients will be informed of their results, though Ryan noted
that some inmates may previously have been exposed to hepatitis C.

Before the problem at the Buckeye prison, Wexford had issues in other
states. Clark County, Wash., declined to renew a contract with Wexford
in 2009 at its county jail and juvenile-detention center after
complaints that Wexford was not dispensing medications to inmates in a
timely fashion.